Confrontation
by futuredoctorlove
Summary: Sasha comes back to the Rock... DUN DUN DUN.
1. Dreaming with a Broken Heart

Payson looked over at her alarm clock. It was 3 in the morning and she still hadn't fallen asleep. This was the second night in a row and she was frankly getting tired of it. _ "I guess I should get up, seeing as getting some sleep is a lost cause." _ Knowing that her mom and little sister wouldn't be getting up for another hour, she quietly climbed out of bed, tiptoed over to her dresser, and pulled out a pair of sweats and a hoodie. When she was finished getting dressed, she left a note on the kitchen counter for her mom, grabbed a banana and a bottle of orange juice and left for the gym.

Twenty minutes later, she was showered, stretched, and ready to practice her floor routine for Worlds. She was one of the few people who knew how to break into the gym before anyone was officially allowed in for practice. _Sasha had allowed her to come into the gym before everyone else… _Payson slowly told herself to stop thinking about Sasha and just practice. The music that she had chosen for her routine wasthe song **Secrets **by One Republic. She had heard one of their songs on the radio while she was driving home from practice one day and from then on, she had become addicted to the swelling cellos and the emotion-filled voice of Ryan Tedder; in her mind, it was her own personal life preserver. As she took her position in the middle of the mat and the cello solo started, she began to move in a haunting, graceful way.

As she danced across the floor, all she could think about was Sasha. His sparkling, all-too knowing blue eyes, his crooked smile, and his way of carrying himself in a way that showed that he cared about his gymnasts but he was holding back a few secrets of his own. As she neared the middle part of the song, she could feel the tears building up and without even being aware of it, she started shedding quiet, minute tears.

As she folded herself into the ending position of her floor routine, she quickly wiped her tears away and stood up to go shower and change into a new leotard before everyone else arrive. As she stood up shakily, she unwillingly connected her eyes with the eyes of the person who had broken a promise that she was sure that was intended to be kept.


	2. Missing Persons 1&2

She was speechless for a moment and completely lost her train of thought. Then she remembered what she had to do. All she wanted to do was ignore Sasha until she could forget his face. He had broken her so badly, probably more than her injury had ever. He had picked up the pieces that were her life and had gently and preciously put her back together, and when he saw that she was finally healed, he just… broke her. She would never forgive him, no matter how much he asked her or begged or made another promise.

"Payson. Can you let me explain?" Sasha asked in an almost frightening yet saddening whisper. He sounded like he hadn't slept in weeks. He looked like he was suffering from a broken heart. Payson quickly walked by Sasha without looking back. The truth was tears were spilling down her face and if she turned around, she would be forced to show him how weak she had been made by his presence in the gym for the last year and a half.

She pushed the locker room door and closed it as fast as it would go. As she practically ran to her locker, she quickly grabbed her shower caddy, a loofah, and a towel, and made her way to an empty stall. She turned the shower dial on to the hottest it would go, and stepped inside. As soon as the scalding water hit her body, the tears were replaced with gut-wrenching sobs. _I was fine until he came here! Who am I kidding, I wasn't fine! I've been a mess for weeks; even Lauren has noticed. _Payson quickly made up her mind that even though he was here for the time being, she would ignore him and act as if he were a ghost. Minutes later, the hot water soon turned to cold and as Payson took a deep breath, she stepped out of the shower.

10 minutes later, she made her way to the benches that were a couple of feet away from the mat. She slowly stretched out her muscles and almost as if it were an involuntary reaction, she looked up at Sasha's office and saw him quickly glance away from her exhausted and red eyes. _15 minutes… 15 minutes until Emily arrives…_ Payson thought. As soon as she turned to go back to the locker room to grab her iPad so she could read her **Pride and Prejudice **e-book, she felt someone grab her arm and pull her back.

* * *

I'd really appreciate your reviews. I'm a new writer and I'm completely rooting for Sasha and Payson. Please give me any feedback!


	3. You Found Me

"Payson, please let me explain. Please." Sasha asked. _He had no idea why he was here. Well, he did. He missed Payson. From the minute that he put that pen to that heartbreaking letter, he regretted it._

"Why should I? Please give me one good reason why I should listen to anything you have to say?" Payson yelled, her harsh words echoing off the walls of the gym. "You left me! By myself! You said you would stay by my side until the 2012 Olympics! I have been awake practically every night for the last two months wondering what I DID WRONG! I just want to know why you left! WHY?"

Now Sasha was livid. Did she not understand how he wanted to be with her every moment of everyday? _Bloody hell, he thought, this is just like that stupid American movie __The Notebook._ "Payson, you want to know why I left? Do you really?" Payson had taken several small steps forward and she was several inches from his face. "I left because I couldn't take it anymore!" Payson look like she was about to cry again. All Sasha wanted to say was everything that may cause more harm than help.

"You couldn't take what? Being in this gym? God! You are such a coward!"

"You have no bloody right to talk to me like this!" Sasha yelled as he began to shake slightly.

"I don't? Because the way that abandoned me as a coach gives me the right to!" Payson said as she began to step closer to him.

"And for the record, Alexander, you are not my coach anymore." Payson said in a low tone that sent a chill down Sasha's back.

As soon as Payson had uttered those hurtful words, Sasha looked as if he had been punched in the stomach. His blue eyes turned icy and his eyes drifted down to the floor. As Payson walked towards the center of the mat and sat down to gather her thoughts before everyone else arrived, tears started to brim over her eyes. _I didn't mean to be so harsh to Sasha, but she didn't need him to come back and save her. She could have gotten over this heartbreak herself._ As Emily quietly but confidently walked over the mats to where Payson was sitting, Payson took one last look at the office that was formerly Sasha's and saw that the desk lamp was on but no one was moving.

"Payson, have you been crying?" Emily asked as she joined Payson on the mats. All Payson could do was look down at her hands and shake her head.

"You can tell me. You're the only friend I have left." Emily admitted sadly.

"Emily, it's almost time for practice. I'll talk to you about it later. Right now I have to train." Payson said bitterly as she crossed over the mat to the uneven bars to do her routine.

As Payson began her bars routine while her new coach, Dmitri Belov watched her critically, she began to get lost in her own thoughts. _Why was Sasha here? He had left because he didn't want to be at The Rock-why is he here now? Don't think about him. _As Payson fell to the mats, Sasha was the last thing on her mind.


	4. Make You Feel My Love

All Payson could feel was pain. She couldn't tell where it was coming from, but she knew that she had damaged some part of her body. _Please don't let it be my back. God, I know that we don't talk much. Wait, that's an understatement. But God, if you are there, please don't let it be my back. __Anything__ but my back. _As soon as she had realized that she was in Sasha's office, she suddenly wished that she had stayed unconscious for a little while more. But seeing as she had finally come to, she had no choice but to speak to Sasha.

As she struggled to sit up, she looked around and realized that Sasha wasn't in the office. _Ugh. I need some ibuprofen and some water fast. _When she had finally managed to stand up without buckling under the pain in her shoulders and lower back, she carefully crept down the stairs. There, on the uneven bars, Sasha was doing pull-ups and listening to his iPod. He looked so calm, so focused, like he didn't have a care in the world. As Payson began making her way over to the bars, she forgot for a second that she had fallen on her back only a couple of hours earlier and collapsed.

* * *

"Payson, can you hear me? Are you alright?" Sasha asked in a worried tone. As Payson's bright blue eyes met Sasha's stormy eyes, she immediately regretted it.

"It hurts. Everything hurts. So bad." She replied as tears began streaming down her cheeks.

As Sasha picked Payson up, she felt a heaviness fall over her. Just as she was about to close her eyes, Sasha laid her down carefully on the couch and pushed some stray strands out of face.

"Payson, listen to me. You can't fall asleep yet. I have to check your eyes. If you fall asleep and something happens to you, I won't forgive myself."

As Sasha grabbed a mini-flashlight out of one of the desk drawers, switched it on, and started to look at her pupils, she felt a sharp stab of pain at the nape of her neck.

"That hurts. " Payson whispered under her breath. "Sasha, please stop. That really hurts! Like on a scale from one to ten, that's like a twenty."

"Almost done." Sasha said as he took one last glance into her right eye. "Okay, were finished. I'm going to run down to the men's locker room and get you a bottle of water and some ibuprofen. Don't go anywhere."

"Where am I going to go?" She asked sarcastically as he jogged out of the office and down the stairs.

Before Payson had had a chance to close her eyes for a split second, Sasha was back at her side. "You had me worried." Sasha admitted as he opened the bottle and took out two pills. "I thought I had lost you again." As soon as he had admitted his fear, he turned his attention the water bottle and acted as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. For a few moments, there was complete silence in the room, and suddenly Payson spoke.

"I'm sorry about what I said before. I didn't mean a lot of it. I meant some of it, but I didn't expect it to come out so rudely." Payson said. As she reached up and squeezed Sasha's hand, she chose her next words carefully. "Sasha, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. All I did was fall."

"It was my fault. If I hadn't come back, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. It was entirely my fault." He said as he let out an unsteady breath.

"Sasha, I know that this is a time for all seriousness, but can I have the ibuprofen now? I don't want my muscles to have knots tomorrow." Payson said as she looked at Sasha with bright eyes."

"Here you go. Before I let you go to sleep, if you don't mind, I'm going to rub some Icy Hot on all of the areas that were hit the hardest by your fall." He said quietly as he crossed over to his desk. "Sure, but you're going to have to help me turn over. The ibuprofen hasn't kicked in yet." She said as she slowly put down the water bottle.

As Sasha walked over to the couch, Payson began to try to steady herself to try to turn over. "Don't strain yourself. Just lie still and I'll do the rest as he lifted her petite frame and carefully turned her over. As he readjusted Payson on the couch, he began to apply the Icy Hot to her lower calves and thighs. Through the entire time, Payson stayed quiet and still. When it came time for Sasha to apply the Icy Hot to Payson's back and shoulders, he gave her a t-shirt and some sweats and left the room so she could change. "_I'm not some perverted old guy. I'm just a guy that loves her," he thought as he waited outside._

His thoughts were disrupted by Payson's comment that he could come back in. As she lay there quietly while he applied the Icy Hot to her lower back, he felt her relax. He could tell by just him being there, that she was starting to relax about the whole kissing situation.

"I'm done. I think you should sleep for a couple of hours and then I'll wake you up when it's time for you to go home." He said as he began to get up and walk out of the room.

As he began to leave the room, he saw Payson frown for a minute or two. "What's wrong?" he asked, preparing that it would be that she could feel her back or something. "Nothing, it's just that, when this couch was bought, was this couch meant to be the most uncomfortable couch ever?" She joked as she tried to get comfortable.

"There aren't any pillows, but if it would be better for you, do you want to lay on my shoulder until you can get comfortable?" He asked dubiously.

"Sure. At least I'll be able to get a couple of hours of sleep; even if it's crowded," she remarked as she started to make room for Sasha on the loveseat. As soon as Sasha and Payson got comfortable, Sasha began humming an unfamiliar tune.

"What's the song you're humming?" Payson asked sleepily.

"Make You Feel My Love by Adele." Sasha whispered as Payson readjusted again.

"Can you sing it for me?" Payson asked when her eyes started to grow heavy.

"Okay, but it may not sound very good." Sasha admitted quietly.

Sasha took a deep breath and started singing.

_When the rain is blowing in your face,_

_And the whole world is on your case._

_I could offer you a warm embrace,_

_To make you feel my love._

Sasha looked down for a second and saw that Payson was almost asleep.

_When the evening shadows and the stars appear,_

_And there is no one there to dry your tears._

_I could hold you for a million years,_

_To make you feel my love._

_I know you haven't made your mind up yet,_

_But I would never do you wrong._

_I've known it from the moment that we met,_

_No doubt in my mind where you belong._

By that time, Payson was fast asleep and Sasha sighed as he tightened his arm around Payson's sleeping body.

_I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue,_

_I'd go crawling down the avenue._

_There's nothing that I wouldn't do,_

_To make you feel my love._

_The storms are raging on the rollin' sea,_

_And on the highway of regret._

_The winds of change are blowing wild and free,_

_You ain't seen nothing like me yet._

As Sasha neared the end of the song, he slowly adjusted his body around Payson's and started to relax.

_I could make you happy, make your dreams come true,_

_Nothing that I wouldn't do._

_Go to the ends of the earth for you,_

_To make you feel my love._


End file.
